White Balance C&C

[NebraskaNewGirl]

I have been working on getting the proper white balance in post production. I have PS SC5 and have been using Camera RAW. I feel that when I get the proper white balance, it either makes the models face to dark or blows up the lighting. What am I doing wrong?

 

[bianni]

Your white balance looks ok. the grey concrete looks grey. The skin tone of the second image is a bit light and both images are tilted to the left.

 

[NebraskaNewGirl]

Ok. Thanks. Straightening is an easy fix, but any suggestions on properly changing the skin tone?

 

[dwightdegroff]

FWIW, to my relatively-inexperienced eye it looks like you have the white balance OK, but the exposure is off. The first looks underexposed(1/2500 shutter, f/1.8, ISO 100) and the focus seems to be on the beam, instead of her face), and the second looks overexposed(1/2500 shutter, f/5.6, ISO 6400?), making her face look washed-out.

 

[MReid]

Underexposed photos the skin will look orange red....bring up the exposure....skin color will improve.
Overexposed photos, if the skin is blown beyond redemption, they are tossers. If you can save them reducing the exposure will bring color back into the skin.
Get your black and white points correct then adjust exposure so it is nice and bright. This should fix the skin color, if not adjust the white balance to taste using the slider.
Exposure plays a big role in skin color.

 

[NebraskaNewGirl]

Thanks for the tips. I will try them out and post up my results. Thanks again.

 

[GnipGnop]

If you look at her hand in the first, it's almost all white. Look at the green edge lining the dark edge in the top left of the first pic as well. Why is your shutter so fast in the second? Slow it down and practice having a steady hand so you can be a little more flexible in lowering your ISO.

 

[jaicatalano]

Try to shoot in raw next time. It might sound scary but it will change your life and your images without worry.

 

[KmH]

How to get pleasing skin tone.

The first photo has a slight blue cast. The way to get a good white balance is to use a gray card and the WB toll in Camera Raw/Lightroom.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...y/270016-setting-white-balance-grey-card.html

 

[Christie Photo]

When shooting, how do you define the white balance? Are you shooting auto WB?

I use a gray card for each different lighting situation. I ask the sitter to hold the card close to the face (or I hold it there myself) and set both exposure and WB to the card. This gives me a great starting point.

In the digital age with so many folks taking up photography, so basic approaches have been abandoned or lost. Consider absolutely accurate color balance is usually essential in commercial photography, but not usually not desired in portraiture. When depicting people, the goal isn't to capture absolute reality with all the flaws, blemishes and shortcomings. It is desirable to capture a person's warmth... even exaggerate it a bit. That means using a color balance that is slightly warmer than real life. Just tweaking... not so much that whites begin to go yellow.

I think the larger issue in these two images is contrast. I'm not seeing a lot of middle tones. I think dwightdegroff is touching on this. These appear to be "saved" under exposed images, increasing the contrast of the scene.

I hope this helps.

-Pete

 

[NebraskaNewGirl]

If you look at her hand in the first, it's almost all white. Look at the green edge lining the dark edge in the top left of the first pic as well. Why is your shutter so fast in the second? Slow it down and practice having a steady hand so you can be a little more flexible in lowering your ISO.

I have definitely notice how why her hand is. That is what is causing me such a headache when I try to increase the exposure. Would I be best to crop the picture with out the hand in order to get the proper exposure in the face. I also have see the blue tint and have corrected that. I will definitely try slowing down the shutter speed so I can decrease my ISO. I usually shoot in aperture per recommendation of my current instructor and several entries on this forum. Is that a bad way to shoot?

 

[NebraskaNewGirl]

I usually use the WB settings "sunny" "shade" "cloudy" ect. Is this wrong? I am a complete newb so every bit of information helps. And jaicatalano, I will try shooting next time in raw.

 

[NebraskaNewGirl]

Is this white balance and exposure any better? I've been watching PS tutorials and making tiny adjustments. I guess it's probably a lost cause.

 

[MLeeK]

Try a less contrasty curve before you set white balance. It's the very high lights/highlights and extremely dark blacks that are throwing your exposures, not the white balance.

 

[NebraskaNewGirl]

How to get pleasing skin tone.

The first photo has a slight blue cast. The way to get a good white balance is to use a gray card and the WB toll in Camera Raw/Lightroom.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...y/270016-setting-white-balance-grey-card.html

Thanks KmH. That is the spot that I too adjusted my white balance too in the version that I am currently working on. But the extremely white hand is throwing me for a loop. I'm ready to just throw in the towel on this image.